[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Originally Posted by courtyard

I'd love to see a health food restaurant here, preferably one that serves only Organic food!

My doctor calls healthy organic, "Fecal farming."

[Down Sized]

Originally Posted by Richard1366

Let me be the first to say that I feel sorry for us. Here we live in a wonderful “village” with all the beauty of nature, companionship, and activities…yet we are in a gastronomic wasteland. Our “Italian” restaurants are “red sauce’ dispensers, pasta with a variety of red and white sauces slathered on. Where are Italian restaurants that serve contemporary Italian cuisine; Gnocci, hot pastas with cool fresh and light sauces, simple wonders such as cacao e pepe (fresh spaghetti with cheese and ground pepper?) Where are the authentic Oriental restaurants? Isn’t everyone tired of fried rice, General Tso’s chicken, sweet and sour pork. Why hasn’t some Asian restaurant provided us with a variety of dim sum (even if only on weekends} adding such dishes as scallion pancakes, pigs ears (really delicious,) and wonderful noodle soups? With a large number of Vietnamese veterans, why doesn’t any restaurant offer Vietnamese Pho with spring rolls and that wonderful Vietnamese iced coffee. No restaurants anywhere around offer any spicy and delicious Korean dishes.
Hopefully one of these days a restaurant investor will take a leap of faith and provide this community with something other than chain restaurant pap.

I haven't seen too many people around here that looks like they have missed out on any meals for lack of places to eat.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by sunglow

Right on, Richard! Maybe if we start demanding it....
I did find a place with really good bagels... Brooklyn Water Bagels? Not sure of the name but I was impressed with the bagels.

Demanding of whom??

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Down Sized

I haven't seen too many people around here that looks like they have missed out on any meals for lack of places to eat.

[KARENNN]

I miss the scallion pancakes and fish ball soup from Ollie's on 44th and B'way!

[asianthree]

we are lucky to have very good friends from japan who cooks traditional, our sons roomate who visits from mexico city, and a inlaw from vietnam..when they come to cook at my house its just heaven.

[CaliforniaGirl]

Originally Posted by jblum315

Because most people here wouldn't pay for it. They want cheap and fast, not good.

That reminds me of a poster I used to have on the wall of my office in Ocala. It said "We're good, cheap, and fast...Pick any two."

[shcisamax]

Yay Ollies!

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Demanding of whom??

NYC, Brooklyn, Staten Island here and we LOVE Brooklyn Bagels!!!!! Even better than bagels we had back on SI........

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by sunglow

Right on, Richard! Maybe if we start demanding it....
I did find a place with really good bagels... Brooklyn Water Bagels? Not sure of the name but I was impressed with the bagels.

I MUST agree about the bagels!!!

Oh, Richard, I am longing for pasta with black truffles and foie gras.....scallion pancakes, dim sum aned French food..........I can dream can't I ???

[Shirleevee]

Originally Posted by mikeod

I've lived here about six years and have seen several restaurants come and go. Italian, Mexican, seafood, etc., all closed. Those that remain provide a level of cuisine and service that the majority of residents and visitors enjoy. This isn't New York, or Chicago, or LA, or Dallas, or Nawlins. The demographics here will not support the type of restaurants you describe.

Villagers vote for places they like with their wallets. Those that remain do so because they meet the expectations of most customers. If the establishments here are so mediocre, why is it difficult to get in January through April?

Frankly, I moved here for much more than the local cuisine. I don't need anyone to feel sorry for me. I do wonder about people who come to Central Florida and expect to find the same things they had in a major metropolitan area. Ain't happening.

Exactly my reason for dreaming lol

[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Ditto and Amen. A lot of folks feel the same way.

P.S. I am a person who loves to cook, so I can pretty much have what I want to eat at any time but rarely do I run into food that is terribly disappointing here in TV. You don't have to be from New York to have fine dining experiences. But every meal doesn't have to be a home run to be enjoyable.

Toojays chicken livers and onions are the best I have ever had. The lighthouse has wonderful butterfish and catfish and their slaw with pineapple is always fresh and yummy. It is hard to beat Oakwood's barbecue, even if it is slightly off campus. ADD fun folks around the table and it is FINE dining.

You're right Gracie, I've rarely had bad food in or around TV. Not especially fancy or exotic but I'm not a fancy person anyway. I've mostly been pleased with food around here. My wife will tell you I'm the easiest person in the world to cook for. I like everything. Give me my wife's meatloaf and mashed potatoes and I'm a happy man. As a kid and an adult there was nothing as good as my mother's fried chicken.

[shcisamax]

Good food doesn't have to be fancy. It has to be good.

[Lbmb24101]

I know I will miss our Cuban restaurant here once we live in TV...
and Cuban restaurant is not really that expensive.

[maryanna630]

I am originally from SI. My fathers family lived there for three generations. He was a civil engineer at Borough Hall and he raised goats and did organic farming as a hobby. We lived on a six acre farm on woodrow road....long gone now. My husband is from Flatbush.We live in Mexico now and are coming for our first visit 11/1 to 11/15. I would love to meet you for coffee, discuss SI and ask how you lie the Villages. And, yes,we are foodies but we cook!
Maryanna